Story summary
Samenvatting van Faust: Een lyrisch drama in vijf bedrijven
- 8 min. leestijd
- 9 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
An old scholar lifts a cup of poison, and a girl's song at dawn stops his hand before the devil arrives.
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Faust: Een lyrisch drama in vijf bedrijven in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 1 h 10 min55 min fast, 1 h 25 min slow
- Lengte
- 16.900 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1859by Charles Gounod; Jules Barbier; Michel Carré
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
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Faust: Een lyrisch drama in vijf bedrijven in short
Faust is the story of a bargain and what it costs. An old philosopher, tired of books and doubt, is stopped from drinking poison by the sound of ordinary joy. In his rage he calls on Satan and signs away his future for youth and a vision of a girl.
What Faust: Een lyrisch drama in vijf bedrijven is about
Picture an old scholar alone at dawn, a crystal cup of poison in his hand. Outside, girls sing of morning and love, and field workers praise God. He cannot bear it. He does not drink. He calls on Satan instead.
Faust: A Lyric Drama in Five Acts is the opera built on that scene. Charles Gounod wrote the music, and Jules Barbier and Michel Carré wrote the words, drawing on Goethe. It first reached the stage at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris on March 19, 1859.
Voor wie is het?. You will love this if you enjoy opera, the Faust legend, stories of bargains and temptation, or the French stage of the nineteenth century. It offers a plot told in song, with a devil, a garden and a heartfelt young heroine.
The story in 9 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
Faust, tired of knowing, reaches for poison
The opera opens in a study at night. Faust, an aged philosopher, sits among books while his lamp gutters. He has spent his life asking nature and its Creator for an answer, and no voice has ever replied.
Dawn arrives, and he takes it as an insult. He pours a flask into a crystal goblet and greets his last morning almost calmly.
Then the world breaks in. Young girls sing outside of the rising sun and flowers opening to love. Faust calls these sounds empty echoes of human joy. Laborers on their way to the fields praise God for the fine weather. The goblet trembles in his hand.
Faust does not turn back toward faith. He asks what such a God has ever done for him. His despair turns to rage, and he curses hope, love, science, prayer and even patience. Then he calls on Satan to come to him.
Notice what he does not ask for. He wants no riches and no power. The singing outside shows him exactly what he lacks.
Faust does not truly want to die, he wants to live, and the devil is listening.
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A devil offers youth for a signature
Mephistopheles appears at once, and he is not what Faust expects.
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At the fair, the devil crashes the party
Act Two moves to a town fair outside a city gate.
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Flowers and jewels wait in the garden
Act Three takes place in Marguerite's garden.
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The mirror, the night and the daisy
Marguerite lifts out a pair of earrings and finds a mirror at the bottom of the casket.
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Abandoned, Marguerite faces church and brother
Act Four opens after a gap, and Marguerite is in tears.
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Youth bought with a promise costs other people
The first big theme is the price of desire.
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Holy signs push back, but only so far
The second theme is faith and protection, and the opera shows it through objects.
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Songs, dances and contrasts carry the story
The opera is told almost entirely in song, and the form matters.
Read all 9 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Faust An aged philosopher weary of learning, he trades his future for youth and the chance to win a girl he has seen in a vision.
- Mephistopheles The devil in a nobleman's clothes, witty and mocking, he serves Faust on earth and claims him below.
- Marguerite A modest young woman who spins at her wheel and prays each evening, she is drawn to a courteous stranger.
- Valentine Marguerite's brother, a soldier who goes to war carrying her silver medal and asks his friends to guard her.
- Siebel A shy youth who loves Marguerite faithfully and brings her flowers, he stays loyal when others turn away.
- Martha Marguerite's talkative neighbor, she enjoys the jewels and the flattery of a stranger who brings news of her husband.
- Wagner A student and friend of Valentine, he leads the drinking songs at the fair and begins a comic song about a rat.
How it ends (spoiler)
In the final act, Marguerite lies in prison, condemned for killing her child, her mind shaken. Faust, with Mephistopheles, comes to free her, but she recalls only their first meeting and the garden. When she sees the devil, she turns from Faust in horror and prays. She dies, and Mephistopheles calls her condemned, but a heavenly choir proclaims her saved. Angels carry her soul upward, Faust kneels in prayer, and the devil crouches before an archangel's shining sword.
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Vragen over Faust: Een lyrisch drama in vijf bedrijven
What is the opera Faust about?
It tells of an aged philosopher who makes a pact with the devil Mephistopheles to regain his youth. He then pursues a young woman named Marguerite, and the bargain brings grief to her and her family.
Who wrote Faust, the opera?
Charles Gounod composed the music. Jules Barbier and Michel Carré wrote the libretto, the words that are sung, basing their story on Goethe's tragedy. It was first staged in Paris in 1859.
What is the Calf of Gold in Faust?
It is the song Mephistopheles sings at the fair in Act Two. It mocks the worship of money, picturing peoples and kings dancing around a golden idol while Satan leads the dance.
Is Gounod's Faust the same as Goethe's Faust?
No. The librettists kept only the love story of Faust and Marguerite, which comes from Goethe. They left out most of his philosophy, because they thought the love story suited music best.
Why do the soldiers hold up their swords at Mephistopheles?
The hilts of their swords are shaped like crosses. When Mephistopheles casts his spells, the men hold them toward him as a holy sign, and the devil cowers and retreats.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Gounod, Charles, et al. Faust: A Lyric Drama in Five Acts. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/faust-a-lyric-drama-in-five-acts.
Gounod, C., Barbier, J., & Carré, M. (2026). Faust: A lyric drama in five acts. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faust-a-lyric-drama-in-five-acts (Original work published 1859)
Gounod, Charles, Jules Barbier, and Michel Carré. Faust: A Lyric Drama in Five Acts. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faust-a-lyric-drama-in-five-acts.
@book{gounod2026faust,
author = {Gounod, Charles and Barbier, Jules and Carré, Michel},
title = {Faust: A Lyric Drama in Five Acts},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/faust-a-lyric-drama-in-five-acts},
note = {First published 1859}
}
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